Is there such a thing as an inferior ball-jointed doll?

Allthough I would like to answer with "there are no inferior dolls" I have to admit that, for me, limiteds and special skintones do give the doll something extra. Which is the reason why they are more expensive, especially second hand. Then there is off course resin quality and posability, which also plays a role to determine wether or not your doll is "superior" to another.

I do find the word "superior" troublesome and not the right term for it. It sounds like those dolls are the boss above all other dolls, which is utter nonsense. I would go with "little more special", because basics are special too and being limited or casted in a different skintone doesn't make the doll ultra special.

I have a variety of dolls, both limiteds and basics, a fullset, different skintones and with company face-ups, artist face-ups and my own amateur face-ups. I do not look down on dolls which are cheaper, basic, normal skin or have (amateur) owner face-ups. Nor do I look up to dolls who are expensive, limited or in a special skintone. I favorite dolls on flickr / tumblr / pinterest based on wether or not I like that doll and that is also how I purchase my own.

My favorite doll of my own collection will always be my first. He is a basic DL Dan in white skin with an artist face-up. The favorite of other people out of my own collection however, is my basic Luts zzd Lio in brown skin with an amateur face-up I gave him myself.

 

Yes there are absolutely inferior dolls! All dolls that aren't mine are inferior MUHAHAHAHA jk!

I don't think there are inferior dolls. I think it depends on what you like ^_^ Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and everyone has such different tastes that I can't see a large general consensus as to what constitutes a doll to be inferior or superior.

I suppose limited dolls have a special quality about them. Although myself having both a limited and an unlimited, I love them both 100%.

 

That is a mean thing to say to a fellow hobbyist. Enjoy your dolls, even when someone else might be hurtful! Superior dolls are the ones you love best!
Mine are both new (one brand new and the other second hand hybrid). I wouldn't trade either of them for another doll, even if the value was 10 times as much. They're mine and I love them the way they are.
Please don't let others' manners or opinions keep you from loving your dolls and interacting with other hobbyists. MOST folks would not say that.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I think "superior" means different things to different people. All of my dolls are shelled OCs, and it doesn't matter to me if they're a basic or a LE, as long as they fit my character. I'd much rather have a cheap, easy to obtain basic doll for my perfect shell of my OC than a super special LE that doesn't come close to fitting the character.

This person claiming it must be LE fullset with artist faceup could also be challenged----some find fullsets boring, as the owner isn't putting their own creativity into getting the doll together. Or, OMG, you paid somebody to do a faceup FOR you? Why not do it yourself to be truly your doll?? (*note sarcasm here*)

We all like different things in our dolls. Some want rare fullsets, some want special custom faceups by well known artists, some want to fully personalize their OCs on their own, some want a doll just because they like how it looks regardless of price or rarity. I don't think these opinions can possibly make one doll superior over another. IMO, the only think that makes a doll superior would be factual quality. (ex. Strong, heavy, smooth resin is obviously superior to light resin that cracks or flakes easily. A thick, well maintained wig is obviously superior to one that's frizzy and has bald spots.)


EDIT: Oh, and my faves are Justin (in my avatar pic) and Parker. Neither is LE or special, other than Parker is discontinued and has been modded. They're my favorite OCs, and therefor favorite dolls. However, my GRAIL is Pharaoh Ay, who is a LE Soom Ender hybrid. And he was my grail because he was so hard to find, but he doesn't get a tenth of the attention from me that Justin and Parker do.

 

THERE ARE NO INFERIOR DOLLS!!!

Seriously--the judgemental snobs around just give some bjd-owners a bad name! Most of us are NOT like that. I have a ton of limiteds in odd skin colors, but I don't think they are superior AT ALL. Each bjd is special and unique! I don't care if they have a company faceup or were done by the owner, or if they have a fullset or are barefoot and wearing a sock-dress! I don't care which country made them or what they cost.

Please don't think that doll-snobs are all that common. I really don't hear that kind of talk at all in-person or on-line. I'm sure it's just a few who just have no social sense and no filter! I know there are lots of people who have reported such nasty things said to them--but I hope they will understand that there are rude and ridiculous people in every group and will not think that everyone is thinking this way!

ALL bjds are wonderful!

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OK, so some dolls might pose better than another, or whatever, but that might just be a personal opinion, too. People need to be more conscious of how they phrase things. "I THINK X-doll can pose better than Y-doll." That's OK, but it doesn't mean one doll is INFERIOR! Just that it may or may not pose less well than another. It may be perfect and wonderful in so many other ways--and the owner may not care about posing at all! *sigh*

 

Definitely don't think that girl was even close to in the right

Sure, limiteds, exclusives, ooaks and full sets are awesome (I love ogling) and custom makeup is fun, but they aren't ~superior~ than basics, in my opinion

 

While there is a certain wow factor to a doll that is rare or hard to find in a certain skin tone, it sounds like the person you were talking to was confusing their preferences with superiority. Some of the dolls I bought back in the day who were considered common as dirt or undesirable at the time are now discontinued and rare, so there's really no way to tell what things will look like in the future and no reason to be a snob about it.

 

I have one bjd. She's not from a particularly popular company, she wasn't very expensive, she isn't a special skin colour, and she has the company default face up. She was the one I liked the most.

BJDs are all so special and different from each other that I can't really see the sense in choosing your dolls based on what's limited unless you're concerned with selling them later for a profit. I'm hoping to avoid getting caught up in the 'must buy this doll/full set/skin colour now because it's limited' thing and i'm relieved that so far the dolls I like are fairly easy to get hold of! It must be tough if those are the dolls you really love.

 

As many people have said, superiority is in the eye of the beholder. And I can't for the life of me see why an LE would be superior to a basic...



Yeah. One of these guys is LE the other isn't. They are identical down to the smeared name in their head caps, other than the color of the resin. How does that make one superior over the other?! I do have a few LE dolls, and a couple of them are hard to find-ish, but if I took one to a meet up and had it with a basic....I'm sorry, I can't for the life of me see why it would be better! Just different.

And special resin colors are only special to those who like them. I don't care for fantasy colors, and only want a small handful of tan dolls (and tan is so available now why is it special?), I prefer my dolls in NS and WS anyway....some special resin color is usually a deterrent for me. Same with clothes. Very few full sets have made their way to my house, and most of them are boxed up and unused. And I customize the hell out of my dolls anyway, LEs and basics, which I'm pretty sure makes them all equal regardless.

Sounds to me like a cry for attention and back-patting (Yay you!! You got an LE doll! Woo. ) from this owner who feels their dolls are better due to being limited...don't give in. Ignore them next time.

 

Wow. Cannot believe she said this to you. What a nasty little creature it is. You know, the CHEAPEST BJD is NOT cheap!!!! All are customizable by you, to make them special for YOU. I have dolls from the lower end of the price spectrum, different colors (although no fantasy ones - not my thing), Limited Editions, Full Sets, second hand dolls, factory face-ups, custom ones. Don't care - I go for the look, not the price tag. I own a Volks LE - & I love him, & know he'll sell well (when my daughters dissolve my estate LOL LOL ) but my FAV doll is a 2nd hand little DZ Mo - I got him at a very reasonable price, he is my only white-skin doll, so I had a custom face-up done (cause I can't do them!) & make his clothes. His resale value is NOT of any importance to me. If you love your dolls, then that is ALL that matters! Somebody throwing money about & bragging about it - well, turn your back on that!

 

As a new person in this hobby, I'm astonished by how critical people can be of one anothers' dolls. I find there are two kinds of people in this hobby: those who are in it for the love of their characters and dolls, and those who are looking for a way to show off how much money they can spend.

What you have experienced is a person of nasty personality, whose opinion you should not allow to settle in your heart.
Do not let yourself be put to shame for the fact that you haven't thrown as much money around as another person has chosen to.

As far as the dolls themselves, there are indeed superior and inferior dolls, but it's not about how "special" they are, it's about the quality of workmanship, the intricacy and precision of the construction, and the quality of care and condition that the owner keeps the doll in. If she were comparing your damaged X to her pristine X, then she'd have it right to say hers is better. Further, comparing things that are in complete different genres (different brands, materials, features, selling points...) doesn't make logical sense at all. But it is a thing I've encountered with BJD collectors expressing their bias against my non-BJD dolls which I collected for years before entering the world of BJD. The attitude of "BJD are so clearly superior to your fashion dolls, in fact, don't even talk about them in our forums" is rather off-putting to us 'outsiders', and almost convinced me not to attempt to mix with BJD people at all, even if I were to eventually purchase a BJD. Because apparently even the people at the top hold that bias of "ours is better than yours" and go so far as to write it into a central pillar making up the policy of a community. To be honest, it's not healthy. As you can see I got over that initial burn and am making an attempt to socialize and hopefully find some of the good people who won't rub in my face that their doll collection cost triple the price of mine, is better for this reason or that, because all that such an opinionated attack really expresses is their own insecurities with their ability to be and stay accepted.

 

I agree with what you're saying about the term "superior" but hopefully that's not the reason why some dolls are off topic here. I also have tonnes of other kinds of dolls, and only recently got into bjds, but I don't mind that I can't talk about them here because I'm guessing most people aren't interested in them, just like they're mostly not interested in my vast camera collection! It's not that one is better and one is lesser, it's just a way to make the forum specialised.

I hope it doesn't make you feel like an outsider, as I'm sure there are lots of people here like us who collect other dolls too, and that you can enjoy mixing with the people with bjds here. I've met some really great people

 

Do you love your dolls? Then there is nothing wrong with your collection. It's not a competition. Your "friend" needs to rethink her doll hobby.

 

First of all, don't let anyone make you feel bad about your choice of dolls because they think yours is inferior. We love what we love, and we don't need excuses for it. I would also be shocked if I heard someone talking like that to me or other people.

I agree with the responders who have mentioned inferior engineering or inferior construction, but the person whose judgment is most important in those cases is the owner of the BJD. If you like it and are happy with it, that's what matters most.

I have a wide variety of BJDs: limiteds, standards, fullsets, defaults, customs and no-frills. I love all of them because they're mine and they're right for me. I could not imagine lording it over someone else because I thought their dolls were inferior. Even if I did think so, I wouldn't have the bad taste to mention it to the owner of the doll in question!

I have a good example. I used to think that Bobobie BJDs looked substandard. One day I saw a tan Bobobie Weylin in person, and wondered who that noble creature was! Bobobie's website pictures can be unflattering, and I never realized how beautiful Weylin was. I was inspired enough to buy one for myself, and fell madly in love with him as soon as I opened his box. I've also "paid it forward" by unintentionally inspiring some other people to buy Weylins as well.



My Puck, possibly the best BJD-related 185 bucks I ever spent. He's a plain old unlimited regular edition with a default faceup who arrived with nothing. His engineering isn't fantastic and his body sculpt isn't beautiful or realistic to me... but you can't convince me this beautiful elf is inferior in any way. I adore him so much. That's all that matters.

I forgot to say, when that person said that to you, she obviously didn't realize how devastating that can be for someone to hear. It can be a life changing experience, enough to make someone give up the hobby. She just wasn't thinking about that at all. Don't let her change your mind about your dolls and the hobby you love so much just because she was being thoughtless.

Linda S.
galatia9

 

It's not.

If a doll is declared off-topic for DoA, it has absolutely nothing to do with its superiority, inferiority, or anything-else-ority. DoA is frickin' HUGE. By necessity, the focus has to be limited, because otherwise this maelstrom of people and information would be impossible to keep in any kind of order. So the focus is resin ball-jointed dolls that meet certain criteria (and the few vinyls that were grandfathered in, like the large Obitsus and DDs). That is all it is. It is not in any way saying these dolls are not as good as BJDs. It's merely saying they're different, and therefore not something we discuss here because we have to keep the focus limited. There are plenty of other forums to discuss other kinds of dolls. We're not saying we hate other kinds of dolls; we're saying there's just not room to cover all the kinds of dolls that there are under the sun, not and maintain any semblance of organization.

As for the OP -- someone has iiiiiiisssuuuuuuues. They should get that looked into.

Tell 'em to stuff it. You love your dolls. That is the only criterion that matters. If they really feel the need to denigrate other people's collections to make themselves feel better, well, that's just sad of them.

 

I consider BJD's a form of art. And, as with all art, everyone has a different aesthetic. Something that is valued at millions of dollars may look like a kindergartener's finger painting to me. Does that make my opinion less valid? Nope. If you love your collection, why would it matter what other people think? Your dolls are there to make YOU happy.

 

I guess an inferior doll would mean to me poorly cast? Like it's falling apart or flaking or thin skinned. But even if it is all those things and you still love your doll there is nothing wrong with that and someone should not treat you badly. I have a resinsoul dan and I like her more than some of my more expensive dolls. She is gray-blue with I believe has a company face up. I can't believe how great she looks. No marbling or sanding marks and her faceup is really nice.

 

NOT AT ALL! There's no such thing as superiority of dolls. Yes, limited dolls are more worthy to sell on the second hand market, but what really matter is if you like the doll. Do you think she's nice? Beautiful? Do you really like her? So everything is fine, the most important thing is your feelings towards your collection!^^

 

I'm always surprised by some of the discouraging behavior I hear/read about. So no, I don't think a doll is superior to another because of a special resin colour, is limited, has a special full set, is often mentioned as a "grail" by many people or has a face up by sought after artists. I do think people value different aspects of doll collecting - so superior in their eyes might be a limited fullest but they could care less about possibility.

 

Yeah, that's exactly what I said next:

I don't want people to just see the part you quoted and think we're disagreeing! I was trying not to sound argumentative or presumptuous to the person I replied to, but I understand how forums work and i'm happy with this one